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Whale euthanized after washing ashore in Egg Harbor Township

Officials say a pygmy sperm whale was euthanized after it washed up on a beach in southern New Jersey.

The Press of Atlantic City reports the whale was alive but sickly and injured when it was found Monday morning on Malibu Beach in Egg Harbor Township, between Ocean City and Longport.

Staffers with the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine soon got the mammal and took it to their facility in Brigantine.

Center Director Bob Schoelkopf told the newspaper that the mature, 10-foot animal should normally be feeding on squid in the deep ocean this time of year. He suspects the whale had heart problems that caused it be lethargic and float to shore, something he said is common in this species.